Pearlbotics

Draw Shapes with Robotics!

Lily B, Ritika M and Bree S

This project was designed to combine elements of both robotics and visual art to expose people with minimal knowledge of computer science and programming to new opportunities and possibilities. Pearl is programmed to draw a predetermined list of shapes to create abstract pieces of art. C++ was used to code our robot to draw the various circles and lines.

The common assumption is that coding entails solely sitting in a cubicle or dark room for hours at a stretch and typing away, but people often do not see all the different ways that it can be used and implemented in other fields.

Pearl is an attempt to spark an interest in people who might not know how versatile computer science can be by combining programming skills with something that seems like the absolute opposite of coding, like art.

Our team wanted to make our robot controllable via iPhone. Originally, we planned on making Pearl wifi compatible, but that posed to be more complex than anticipated. To solve our problem we replaced it with a simpler Bluetooth device, which was connected to an app that we downloaded to our phones.

"Wow, Pearlbotics is an incredible take on technology and art!" - Kristen J, classmate

Lily, Brianna, and Ritika are all rising high school seniors who partook in the Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program in 2016. Brianna likes international travel, marine and environmental sciences, and microbiology. Lily wants to become an engineer, and is the president of her school’s Solar Car Team that races and maintains a solar vehicle. Ritika enjoys live music, exploring the city of Austin, and is active in her school’s volunteer organization.

This project was made by Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program students at Barlovento - RR.